* There is no recall law in Illinois, but Newsweek fell for the hype from a candidate who has not yet disclosed any campaign contributions and is likely to get clobbered by Rep. Kimberly Neely du Buclet in the primary…

Democrat Demands Recall of Chicago Mayor as Migrant Crisis Explodes

Illinois House of Representatives candidate Andre Smith has demanded a recall of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Friday amid an influx of migrants in the city.

“Our mayor has no plan now; he’s having panic attacks. We need to actually recall the mayor,” Smith, a Democrat and the founder of the Chicago Against Violence organization, said on Fox & Friends. “It’s a disaster, and it all falls on the mayor, Brandon Johnson; that’s why I’m pushing strongly that we repeal the mayor.”

Smith recently told Fox News he was arrested last year for standing in front of a bus carrying migrants.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Smith was paid $17,250 by the Paul Vallas campaign.

* Here’s the Tribune on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s demand that the state put new asylum-seeker shelters in other towns…

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Thursday she was “not privy” to any of the back-and-forth between Johnson and Pritzker this week, and has “no idea about the interests or intentions or willingness of mayors in suburban Cook County to help meet this challenge.”

The county has previously acknowledged it was “very closely coordinating with the city to at least identify locations for housing” in the city and in suburban Cook. But when she previously asked suburban mayors to step up, Preckwinkle said Thursday “those conversations didn’t result in offers of assistance.”

* On to the letter from alderpersons. Quinn Myers at Block Club Chicago…

A group of alderpeople are calling on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to rescind a 60-day stay limit at city shelters housing migrants.

The first evictions under that policy are scheduled for Feb. 1, after having been pushed back twice in January during dangerously cold temperatures. About 1,900 people could be evicted from shelters on that date, with another 961 facing eviction Feb. 2, according to city data provided to Block Club last week.

On Thursday, 16 alderpeople signed onto a letter urging Johnson to eliminate the deadlines and improve conditions at the almost 30 city-run shelters housing migrants.

The eviction policy poses a “significant threat to the health and safety of new arrivals” who are “relying on shelters for their continued safety,” according to the letter.

The letter is here (scroll down).

* Jim Daley at the South Side Weekly…

Volunteers who spoke to the Weekly Thursday said they supported the letter and hoped it would lead to better conditions for migrants and improved transparency around shelter conditions. Johnson’s administration relied on volunteers to assist in providing food, clothing and other amenities to asylum seekers while they were staying at police stations, but volunteers say they have been prevented from accessing city-run shelters since then.

“I’m hoping to see improved conditions [at shelters], especially regarding scams and safety,” said SouthWest Collective member Jaime Groth Searle. Shelter eviction notices “make people get desperate and forego personal safety in search of a job or apartment. Clearly we need federal funding, but in the interim, official communication needs to improve.”

Rousemary Vega, an organizer with Grassroots Voices for Chicago, said there is “no transparency” from the city about conditions at the shelters, adding that volunteers have been prevented from accessing the shelters. “They’re limiting mutual aid volunteers from just doing the work, because they don’t want a stain on the [shelters’] image, because they don’t want the word to get out.They’re not allowing the help and resources, so I think it’s time for allies to call upon the mayor and hold him accountable.”

* Tessa Weinberg and Mariah Woelfel at WBEZ…

Johnson has pushed back the eviction deadline twice since announcing the policy in November. It was first set to be enforced on Jan. 16, but was pushed back to Jan. 22 amid a cold snap that saw sub-zero temperatures. The current deadline is now Feb. 1, when nearly 2,000 migrants are required to leave city shelters and request a new spot if they haven’t found housing.

“Some of the new arrivals are confused, because they’ve gotten eviction notices, but the dates keep moving,” said Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th Ward, who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

“We believe a 60-day policy isn’t the way to go forward, that it actually leads to potentially more homelessness in the city. And we do need the state to step up and do its part, but we can’t have people on…the streets in the winter, ultimately living in viaducts, in tents in parks and on the streets.” […]

“It’s not about being for or against the mayor,” Vasquez said. “There’s a recognition of the reality of the situation more than the ideology of it.”

* Michael Loria at the Sun-Times…

Carrying out the evictions will reinforce the kind of desperate mindset volunteers such as Jaime Groth Searle have been trying to help calm.

“They’re not in a headspace to think about safety, they’re thinking about where am I going to get my next meal, keep my kids warm, get my next $50,” Groth Searle said. “We’re trying to get them out of survival mode and get back to going to school, seeing a doctor — those normal things people do.”

Groth Searle volunteers outside the Pilsen shelter and said without more robust case work, many migrants are panicking as they near the end of their stay and don’t know what to do.

Lots more in that one, so read the rest.

* From Mayor Johnson’s response…

We continue to evaluate the 60-day policy and will provide updates as the situation develops. Our plan remains providing dignified care and basic support services for asylum seekers to aid them on the aforementioned path to self-sufficiency and independence, while also being fiscally responsible and fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities to the people of the City of Chicago.

They’ll provide the shelter and basic care until April, but then what? Nobody has yet come up with an answer.

* More…

* Block Club | Buona Beef-Connected Group Gets $45 Million Contract For Migrant Shelter Meals: 14 Parish, based in Hyde Park, is in charge of meals at shelters in the South Region, while Seventy-Seven Communities will provide meals to the North Region, officials said. Seventy-Seven Communities is a suburban-based company created in October, according to state filings. It’s run by leaders at the popular and rapidly expanding Italian beef franchise Buona Beef as well as its sister company, Beyond Catering.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago property owner opens vacant buildings to house nearly 500 asylum seekers: Chris Amatore, a property manager and real estate investor, is providing beds and food, and paying for it all himself. Food was delivered Thursday to the families staying in a South Shore building. In recent days, 57 Venezuelans moved in to the building on South Essex, according to Amatore, who said he owns the building.